Apparatus for holding and displaying newspapers



July 2a, 1925. 1,547,553

F. C. BAXTER APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DISPLAYING NEWSPAPERS Filed Aug. 11. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 28, 1925. 1,547,553

F. c. BAXTER APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DISPLAYING NEWSPAPERS Filed Aug. 11. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 28, 192:

"as 7 s g s 1 1 F1 2 tans,

APE'ARA'IUS FOR HOLDIT IG ND DISPLAY N NE S?APERS.

Application filed August 11, 1924.

T0 aZZ "whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FRANK CRAWFORD Barrera, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Far Rockaway, county of Queens, State of New York, have invented newand useful Improvements in Apparatus for Holding and Displaying Newspapers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus, commonly termed newsstands, for holding and displaying newspapers, orother periodicals, particularly in readily-accessible groups, and one object thereof is to provide an exceedingly-cheap, strong light, portable, efiicient, and novel form of such an apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus, of the hind specified, which will display the newspapers in over.- lapping or other relation, to permit the titles, or headings, of the newspapers to be easily read.

A third object of the invention is to provide an apparatus, of the kind specified, in which the various newspapers are held grippingly, though readily releasable at all times.

A fourth object of the invention is to provide an apparatus, of the kind specified, which will permit a newspaper to be removed from or added to any group without disturbing newspapers of any other group,

A fifth object of the invention is to so construct such an apparatus that movement of a single part, either by the hand or the foot of the merchant or user, will either grip all of the held and displayed newspapers, or will release all of the same, to permit a newspaper (or several thereof) to be added to or removed from any group.

In the accompanying drawings, T have shown two of the possible forms of apparatus embodying my improvements.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of apparatus made according to my invention, the advertising signs being omitted and a part being'broken away, all for sake of clearness; Fig. 2 is'a front view ofsu'ch form as in use, the newspapers being displayed in overlapping groups and the advertising signs being in place; Figures 3 and 4: are longitudinal sectional views through the form of Fig. 1, the parts being shown in Fig. 8 in unlocking or released position, and being shown in Fig, 4 in newspaper- Serial No. 731,263.

gripping position; Fig. 5 illustrates details of construction. Fig. 6 is a side view of another form of apparatus embodying my improvements. The apparatus shown in Figs. 15 is operable by a part at the front of the same; the apparatus of Fig. 6 is operable by a lever at the rear of the same.

Referring to the first of the illustrated forms, 1 indicates a main frame and 2 indicates a supplemental frame movably carried by 1, in this instance being mounted to swing about a horizontal axis. The main frame is shown as being provided with attached braces, 3, one at either side of the apparatus.

cured together, or all of one piece, in the form of a parallelogram. Slate, 6 and 6, or other longitudinal braces, are secured to the top and bottom members 5. The side members, i and 4;, and the top and bottom members, 5 and 5, may be formed of angle iron.

One of the slats 6 is shown as broken away in Figure 1, to permit the supplemental frame, 2, to be more clearly seen. It will be understood that it is preferred to have both of the slats 6 secured to the top member, and also to the bottom member of the main frame.

The latter frame is also shown as being provided with a plurality of spaced-apart cross-members, which contribute strength to the frame and which are secured to the side bars t and 4t and to the slats, 6 and 6. As shown, the cross-members comprise a suc cession of angle bars, 7, and a top crossslat, 8. In addition to contributing strength to the main-frame, the cross-angles, 7, are employed (as hereinafter detailed) to support and guide supporting bars of a succession of newspaper-holding devices, and to also .act'as parts against which displayed newspapers are gripped.

The supplemental frame, 2, is shown as being movably dependent from the main frame, at the rear of the latter. To assure this, I prefer, as shown,.to lit a cross rod,

9, so as to swing 1n openings provided in the upright members of the braces 3, near their upper ends. The supplemental frame also includes, in the form shown in Figures 15, spaced-apart channel-bars, 10 and 10, constituting the side bars of such frame,

Such main frame is shown as being formed of side members i and 4: and of top and bottom members 5 and 5, se-

the upper ends of both bars 10 being fixed to the cross-rod, 9, for which purpose the cross-rod is shown as passing through and fixed to both flanges of both bars 10. It is obvious that the rod 9 and the two channels, 10, may be swung, as one unit, forwardly to release newspapers or to receive a fresh supply, or rearwardly to cause supported or displayed newspapers, to be gripped, all as hereinafter set out. Especial attention is called to the fact that all parts of thesup. plemental frame which are at the back of the apparatus are, in any position, included within the boundary of the main frame, thus permitting the entire apparatus to be placed directly against a wall at all times when in use, occupying very little space. As shown, the entire apparatus removably rests upon a floor, or on the ground, and is preferably easily portable from place to place.

The supplemental frame is completed by newspaper holders, there being a plurality or a succession of such holders, all movable as a unit and with the channels 10, the purpose of such holders being to hold and display the newspapers in groups and preferably in overlapped relation: for instance, and as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the newspapers, 97, are shown as displayed in dis tinct groups, of which group 100 is overlapped by group 99, while the last-mentioned group is shown as overlapped by group 98, the preferred relative positioning of the groups being such that the titles of the newspapers of each group are always freely readable without being covered or concealed by any other displayed newspaper.

In orderthat the newspapers may be shown in overlapping and freely-identifiable groups, I have provided the before-mentioned holders, in a succession thereof, disposed at different heights, as particularly shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4a. In consequence of this arrangement, the several groups of newspapers are displayed so as to have their titles freely-readable at all times, being at different heights relative to the eye of the purchaser, and being overlapping as before mentioned.

To provide the holders at different heights, I employ a succession of rods, 12, bent to a form which provides two legs, as shown in Figure 1, and connected at the front of the apparatus by an upwardly-extending cross-wise gripping portion, 11, which has considerable flexibility due to the metal of which the rod is made and to the shape of the portion 11. i

As shown, the successive supports are progressivelylonger, from the top towards the bottom of the apparatus, in order to permit each of the gripping portions to extend forwardly beyond that next higher, so that the groups of newspapers may be freely inserted into and removed from the separate holders and to be overlapped at all times.

The two legs or supports, 12, of each holder are slidably passed through openings formed in the cross-angles 7 of the main frame, as a result of which the holders are prevented against sagging in every position.

The rear ends ofboth legs of each support, 12, are loosely connected with the channels, 10, of the supplemental frame by means of front and rear nuts, 13 and 14, Figures 3 and 4, so as to allow the several supports to have a very slight play where connected to the channels, 10.

The supplemental frame, 2, is shown as swung to rearward, or gripping, position in Figures 1, 1 and 5, and to forward, or releasing, position in Figure 3. As particularly shown in Figure 5, the newspapers may be gripped between an arched, flexible gripper, 11, carried by the supplemental frame and a cross-member of the main frame.

Under certain circumstances, as where there is but one or a few newspapers of a few pages-or of light stock in a holder, there is a liability for the newspaper to collapse when in a holder that is open and when the newspaper is not gripped. To avoid this, I mayuse a part which extends into the field of a holder under such conditions, and which supports the newspaper or newspapers against collapse. Such part may be carried either by the main frame, or by the holder which moves with the supplemental frame. In the first case, I may use a strip of metal, one end thereof being formed, as shown at Fig. 3, and indicated by the numeral 17, to embrace a cross-member of the main frrunc, and having the upwardly-extending portion, 16, and the downwardlybent and forwardly-extending end, 18. As shownin Fig. 3, the said device permits a newspaper, 97, to have only a. very small movement at the fold, when released, and prevents collapse.

The same result may be assured by providing the supports 12, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, with extensions, 101, which may be short rods brazed to the rods 12 at about the points where bent upwardly, and which extensions project downwardly into the field of the next lower holder. Such a downward extension, 101, will hold the displayed newspaper or newspapers always in an upright condition, in any position-either the forward releasing position, or the rearward gripping positionof the holders, so that the headings, titles and text of all newspapers, or magazines, or groups, will always be easily readable.

In order to swing the supplemental frame either forwardly or rearwardly, and all of the holders therewith as a unit, I provide a. suitable hand-operable or foot-operable part. As shown in Figures 1 1, it may be at the front of the apparatus, and the form particularly shown consists of a short bar, 15,

outwardly bent and having its ends connected with the lowest of the holders, in which position the part 15 may be grasped by the hand of the dealer or he may operate the same by means of his foot.

The form of apparatus shown in Figure 6, differs from that of Figures 15, in having the supplemental frame, indicated by 22, pivoted to rearward extensions, 23, from the main frame, instead of being directly carried by the brace, here indicated at 3 Such form of apparatus also differs from that previously described in having a lever, 24, located at the rear of the apparatus, for moving the holders to any desired position. Instead of the loose connection shown in Figures 3 and 4, between the ends of the holder-rods and the supplemental frame, I may use another form-for instance, that shown in Figure 6, in which the holder rods, 12, are arranged (as in the structure of Figures 3 and 4) to pass thru openings in the angle bars which extend crosswise of the main frame, the rear ends of said holder rods being fixed to cross-rods, near the ends, 25, of the latter. Such ends, 25, slidably fit in slots, 26, which are formed in the dependent bars of the supplemental frame. It is plain that the ends, 25, of the cross-rods will slide lengthwise of the slots 26 while the holders are being moved forwardly or rearwardly.

Another means for so holding a displayed newspaper to prevent the collapsing thereof, especially when in a released position, is shown in Figure 6, and comprises the provision of a recess, 102, which may result from bending a supporting rod, 12, near the junction with the gripping portion, 11. The bottom edges or folds of one or more newspapers will seat in such a recess, 102, in either the forward or rearward position of a holder.

I desire it to be understood that I do not confine my invention to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, as other structures coming within the terms of my appended claims will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the pertinent arts.

Any form of my apparatus, may carry or display any form of sign or advertisement. Referring to Fig. 1, the main frame may carry a plurality of signs, 26 and 27, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the frame. Any desired number or kind of advertisements may be borne by my new device.

I desire it to be particularly understood that the designations newspaper and newspapers, wherever used in my present application, also include periodicals of all kinds.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for holding and displaying newspapers, a main frame having crossmembers, and a supplemental frame movably carried by the main frame to swing about a horizontal axis, the cross-members having openings and the supplemental frame having holders provided with bars which movably pass through the openings of the members and are supported by the latter.

'2. In a device for holding and displaying newspapers, a main frame having crossmembers and a supplemental frame movably carried by the main frame, the cross-members having openings and the supplemental frame having holders provided with bars which are loosely connected therewith and which movably pass through the openings of the members and are supported by the latter.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this eighteenth day of July, 1924;.

FRANK C. BAXTER. Witnesses:

F. H. LOGAN, WILLIAM H. BERRIGAN. 

